In 2011, the Twin Falls County Courthouse will turn 100 years old.

And like any centenarian, it should look its best for the big day.

County officials are planning a series of restoration efforts over the next two years to patch up, repaint and otherwise return the aged building to its former glory after decades of visitors, weather and occasional neglect.

"She's a beautiful old building, and she needs to be respected," County Commis-sion Chairman Tom Mikesell said.

Contractors have already touched up architectural designs on the roof this spring. During the past two weeks, they've worked to restore the northwest and southeast entrances to the building. The next two years could see a fresh coat of paint in other areas and improvements to the windows, woodwork and parking lot, as well as buried power lines now draped across one side, Commissioner Terry Kramer said.

Started in 1907, the courthouse took four years to complete and cost $150,000, said Michael L. Miller, who's kept the building clean and in one piece for 27 years. He currently heads a team with two other maintenance workers, kept busy with the ancient cloth-wrapped wiring and other quirks that make the building both endearing and hard to maintain, he said.

"Plumbing and electrical - to me, that's the death of the building," Miller said, listing his department's priorities.

Outside, the brick building is covered in a skin of sandstone. Inside, the uninsulated, hand-plastered walls still hold original light fixtures, and most of the staircases and wood accents are the original solid oak, covered with the heavy varnish used in years past, he said. Coal chutes in the basement have become access panels for plumbing work and an emergency exit out of the sheriff's office.

The exact techniques used to build the facility, including the hand-plastering, have been lost to time, Miller said. But the building's not quite one of a kind. The county courthouse in Elko, Nev., bears many similarities and may have been designed by the same architects, Miller said.

The most drastic change over the years may have been the fourth floor, Miller said. It was offices until the 1920s, at which point it became the county jail. The original offices were restored in the mid-1980s, after Miller's tenure began.

Today, the only remnant of the jail is a thick door with a grilled window in a human resources hallway. The room, formerly a cell with various uses, now holds electronic equipment.

The county is still finalizing costs of the work for the next two years, Miller said. But whatever that total comes out to, he said, it's worth the work for a building dear to the history buff.

Nate Poppino may be reached at 208-735-3237.